The Wrong Stuff.

The Denver Post reports that the Homeland Security spending spigot is finally opening, with $12 billion in grants trickling down to local communities, allowing them to purchase high-tech gear like vacuum shovels that suck up debris after explosions. The problem: Many first response organizations lack the personnel to use the new equipment--and anyway, what they really need is more basic stuff like fire trucks. Denver has 898 firefighters, down from 921 before 9/11.